Machine for smoothing, polishing, filing, &amp;c.



l T. NICHOLS. MACHINE POR SMOOTHING, POLISHING, FILING, w.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1B, 1907.

947,023. v Patented .Ia-@18,1910

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

THOMAS NICHOLS, 0F GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR-OF ONE-HALF TO L. G.

MOKNIGHT, 0F GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR SMOOTHING, POLISHING, FILING,

Speoication of Letters Patent.

'Patented Jan. 1s, 191e.

Application led September 18, 1907. Serial No. 393,581.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS NICHOLS, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Gardner, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Machine for Smoothing, Polishing, Filing, &c., of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device which while capable of forming several operations is especially adapted for smoothing, polishing, ling, and similar operations which are ordinarily performed on furniture and other wood work. Heretofore operations of this kind performed on small. articles especially has been done entirely by hand, except for certain machines which will polish flat surfaces when they are fed through them. This hand operation is arduous and disagreeable labor, and the principal object of this invention is to substitute for it a machine having a holder which. can be held in any desired position and can be made to operate on flat, curved, and irregular surfaces in such a manner as to polish, rub or le them in accordance with the particular tool or surface with which the holder is provided, thetool being caused to reciprocate by the rotation of a shaft; furthermore, to provide such a construction in combination with a flexible shaft so as to permit the operating head to be moved as desired and to be applied at any desired angle; to provide means whereby said flexible shaft 1s movably supported so that it may have a wide range of motion; to provide means whereby the rotation of the exible shaft may be transmitted to the head to reciprocate the latter in a simple and convenient manner; to provide for supporting said head so that it may reciprocate in a plane along which the surface to be operated upon may be moved; and generally to provide a simple and convenient mechanism for this purpose.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying sheet of drawings which show a preferred form of the invention, and in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine showing the several features of the inven-l plan of said holder with the head removed,

parts being broken away. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same. Fig. 5 is a transve rse sectional view, and Fig. 6 is a view -similar to Fig. 2 showing the application of a file to said holder.

' In order to provide for bodily moving the `flexible or other shaft with which the'tool is connected, the invention is shown as supported from brackets 10 which carry apower or counter-shaft 11. This shaft receives power in any desired way, as for example, through a pulley 12.- It is provided with a bevel ear meshing with a gear 14 on a vertical s aft 15 on which is a pulley 16. A

frame or bracket 17 is so mounted as to turn onv an axis concentric with that of the shaftl, and a convenient way to do this is to make said shaft hollow and extend av shank 18 on the frame 17 through said shaft Asupporting it at the upper end thereof so that the shaft may turn independently of it, and So that the frame 17 may turn on this axis. This frame is provided with a bearing 19 and with a counterweight 20 at the other end, which is preferably adjustable. Through the bearing passes a spindle on which is a pulley 21 connected with the pulley 16- by belt 22. It will be seen that asfthe frame 17 swings about its axis, the belt 22 will always transmit power from the pulley 16 to the pulley 21. It. will also be seen that by changlng the belt and changing the distance between the shank 18 and the bearing 19 as by adjusting the frame or replacing the parts thereof, the range in which the bearing 19 may swing may be adjusted. The pulley 21 is connected through its spindle, not shown, with a flexible shaft 23.

In order to provide for moving the lower end of the shaft longitudinally, the same is gaging the member 27. A screw 29 fixes4 the member 28 to the tube 26. If it is dcvsired to hold the two tubes in stationary position with respect to each other, this can be done by tightening a screw 30 which passes through the member 27 on the tube made in two sections 25 and 26 telescoping between the he can do more easily an v practice than in the hand operation for the 25 into engagenient with the tube 26 there-4 in, as hasbeenv described in my above mentioned application.

Below'the section 25 is mounted a tubular holder 31 to which is secured a shaft 32 connected to be rotated by a iexible shaft.-

provided with a pin 41 for connection Withsaid link. This sliding plate is mounted Ways 34 and moves therealong. To the plate may be connected any desired tool or implement which it is desired torelciprocate by means of thel flexible shaft. In

the present case it is shown as connected with a head 42 by means of screws 43 extending through slots A44 in the plate, and this is shown as provided with a surface 45 which may be sand-paper, emery-cloth, or in fact any kind of a Surface which may be desired for the purpose of polishing, burnishinv, grinding, or the like. i

iwhen the instrument is to be used for the purpose of filing the head 42 lis removed from the plate 40, and a tile 51 secured thereon. Thisis especially desirable in cases where the le is employed in furniture making for smoothing surfaces constitutin parts of small holes through the Same, as or example in chairs and the like.

In the use of the apparatus the holder 31 is held in the hand and ower applied. The rotation of the flexible s iaft reciprocatesthe head 42 or the holder 31 as may be'desired at a rapid rate. The holder can beV moved above the Work to operate with it, with the grain or across the grain, as maybe desired. When the Work is of an irregular curved form, the direction of motion of the head may be varied accordingly at will. As the device may be speeded up to several hundred reciprocations per minute, the work can be doneA much more rapidly than it could be by hand, and the operator can keep up his work for a much longer period, as he has nothing to do but guide the instrument and apply a certain amount of ressure, which accurately in reason that he is able to devote more of his attention to this point.

In some cases a handle 52 is provided' for assisting in guiding and holding the device. In other cases it may be desirable tol provide means for keeping the holder stationary, so that a plurality of pieces of work each having a flat surface may be moved along in the same plane and operated upon. In this c ase a stand or bracket 53 is provided having connected with the shaft for an adjustable arm 54 which can be clamped on the holder 31 by means of a screw-55 or the like. This adjustable arm may be held in adjusted position by turning the thumbscrew 56.

Another object ofthis invention is to provide for eliicientl sup lying a lubricant to the surface 45. Tor t is purpose the head 42, which may be of metal,`wood, or any other material, is made hollow, or provided with a cavity 60, in which is located a tank or receptacle for the lubricant 61 having perforations 62 in its bottom communicating with the surface 45. The bottom of the re ceptacle 61 may constitute part of the backing for the surface 45. The .rece tacle may be held in position in any desired way and may be of any convenient 'size or shape, but it preferably extends substantially across the head 42 so as to sup ly lubrication over all the surface operate upon. It may be filled through a pipe 63 connected with an oil cup 64 so that the height of lubricant may be observed.

I have shown herein a device for permitting the lengthening of the flexible shaft, but I have not claimed it in this case, as it constitutes a part of my above mentioned application.

lVhile I have illustrated and described certain preferred forms of the invention, -I am aware that many modifications may be made therein and that the invention'may be used for many other purposes than those mentioned, Without departing from the scope of the same as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not Wish to be limited to the particular form or use of the invention as set forth above, but

What I do claim is 1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a shaft, an eccentric xed to the end thereof, a holder into which the endof said shaft enters, said holder having a recess for said eccentric, a link connected with said eccentric, a plate mounted on the bottom of said holder and connected with said link and having perforations provided with shoulders, guides for said plate, whereby the rotation of the shaft will reciprocate said plate in a plane transverse to the axis of the shaft, a polishing head or block adapted to be secured to the .bottom of said plate, headed screws passing through said perforations and entering the head, the heads of the screws engaging said shoulders, whereby said head is removably fixed to the'plate, and a polishing surface on the bottom of said head.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a shaft, a movable Wooden polishing head supported by the shaft, means reciprocating said head, said polishing head cess extending transversely across the same having a refrom its polishing surface to the to there# vented from bein discharged rapidly, but of, a metallic receptacle set into sai recess may be distribute along said polishing suriiush with the bottom thereof for receiving face. o a lubricant and havin perforations in the In testixnon whereof I have hereunto set 5 bottom thereof, where y the lubricant may my hand, in t e presence of two subscribing 15 be dischar ed clear across the head, and a witnesses.

sheet of po ishing material on the lower sur- THOMAS NICHOLS. face of said head and receptacle and ex- Witnesses: tending under the perforated surface of said LEWIS G. McKNIeH'r,

10 receptacle, whereby the lubricant is pre- HENRY A. PERKINS. 

